511 Contra Costa

Major progress being made at East Portal

kayla — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:11:16 +0000

The wall shown in the photos below will eventually become the east portal wall. According to Caldecott-tunnel.org, most walls are built from the base upwards.

First, an auger drills large holes, ninety feet deep and several feet apart. Concrete is poured into the circular holes and allowed to harden. Next, a series of holes are drilled between the original holes, overlapping the edges. Steel cages are dropped into the holes for extra support and then concrete is poured into the hole. When the concrete hardens, it forms a series of underground interlinking piles.

Starting at the top of the wall, the dirt in slowly excavated revealing the front of the wall. Supports are added to the wall as the excavation goes deeper. According to Caldecott-tunnel.org, the machine in the lower photo is drilling holes to insert tie-back cables, which as the name indicates, will tie back the wall against the hillside. The semi-circular pattern on the wall in the top photo is the outline of the tunnel. The tunnel will be excavated straight through the portal wall. This could begin in as little as three weeks.

Source:

• Caldecott-tunnel.org

This Week’s Headlines in Transportation & Transit: Jul 17-23, 2010

Trucy Phan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:21:25 +0000

Upcoming Events & Meetings

Fri. 7/23: Treat Boulevard closure at Jones Road
Sat. 7/24: Treat Boulevard closure at Jones Road
Weds. 8/4: BART developer meeting @ Zeitgeist in SF
Sat. 8/7: Transbay Temporary Terminal to open

Local News (Contra Costa County & East Bay)

Bay Area and California News

Original BART logo from 1958

Trucy Phan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:03:03 +0000

Ready for a sweet trip back in time?

Here is the original Bay Area Rapid Transit logo from 1958:

Current Bay Area Rapid Transit logo:

Hat tip: Streetsblog SF | Photo credit: Eric Fischer

The Caldecott Construction leads to the discovery of fossils from millions of years ago

kayla — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:48:39 +0000

According to mercurynews.com, fossil hunter Joshua Wyatt recently found the imprint of an avocado tree leaf- about 10 million years old- preserved in smooth rock like leaves flattened between layers of wax paper. The excavation of the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel has opened a door for paleontologists to search for fossils expected to give clues to old life-forms and climate change in the Bay Area. Private paleontologists hired by Caltrans already have found a tooth, likely a remnant of a camel, and dozens of remains of fish scales, plants and other bone bits. Read more about this, Mercurynews.com.

Source:

• Mercurynews.com

This Week’s Headlines in Transportation & Transit: Jul 10-16, 2010

Trucy Phan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:01:00 +0000

Upcoming Events & Meetings

Sat. 7/17: Give your input on BART’s eastward extension in Contra Costa County from 10:00-11:30 am in Pittsburg
Sat. 7/17: County Connection Route 4/Free Ride Trolley detour
Sat. 7/17: Portions of I-580 and I-680 closed
Sun. 7/18: Portions of I-580 and I-680 closed
Fri. 7/23: Treat Boulevard closure at Jones Road
Sat. 7/24: Treat Boulevard closure at Jones Road

Local News (Contra Costa County & East Bay)

Bay Area and California News

Other

Innovative, wrappable bike design gets around theft problem

Treat Boulevard closures planned for completion of Iron Horse Pedestrian Bridge

Trucy Phan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:45:23 +0000

The bridge erection work for the new Iron Horse Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge over Treat Boulevard requires the closure of the intersection of Treat Boulevard and Jones Road on the weekend of July 23-25, 2010. This bridge is located in the vicinity of the Pleasant Hill BART station. The entire intersection of Treat Boulevard and Jones Road will be shut down during the bridge erection operation. This work will be performed at night in order to minimize traffic disruption.

The bridge erection is scheduled to take 2 nights to complete. During the bridge erection, Treat Boulevard will be closed from Oak Road to Cherry Lane. Jones Road will be closed from the Pleasant Hill BART station to 200 feet south of Treat Boulevard. A detour plan will be in place during the closure. A copy of the detour plan is posted on the County’s website at www.cccpublicworks.org. Work will occur on the following nights from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. the following morning:

Friday night, July 23
Saturday night, July 24

Subsequent night operations will take place intermittently between July 25th and August 13th with as-needed lane closures (full intersection closures will not be necessary for these operations) to complete the bridge construction.

Click here to download the Treat Blvd traffic closure detour plan

Caldecott Closures Wednesday & Thursday, July 14-15

kayla — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:54:33 +0000

According to caldecott-tunnel.org, the left lane and the adjacent lane (#1 & #2) of westbound Route 24 before the Caldecott Tunnel will be closed Wednesday and Thursday nights, July 14-15 from 11:00 PM – 4:00 AM. The middle tunnel bore will also be closed during this time period.

Source:

• www.caldecott-tunnel.org

Several Caldecott Closures Tuesday Night July 13th

kayla — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:53:50 +0000

According to Caldecott-tunnel.org, the far right lane (#4) of westbound Route 24, before to the Caldecott Tunnel will be closed Tuesday night, July 13. The closure at 7:30 PM, with full closure in place by 8:30 PM. The closure will be until 4:00 AM.

Also, the Fish Ranch Road off-ramp and on-ramp will be closed from 9:00 PM – 5:00 AM.
That same night, Tunnel Bore #3 will be closed from 10:00 PM – 4:00 AM.

Source:

• www.caldecott-tunnel.org

Tri Delta Transit introduces Free Rides with Frequent Rider Rewards

Trucy Phan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:11:20 +0000

Last week, Tri Delta Transit introduced Free Rides with Frequent Rider Rewards.

Earn free rides every time you ride Tri Delta Transit buses. Just hold on to your used day passes and/or punch passes and redeem them for a free day pass. It’s that easy!

How it works:

Use 10 Tri Delta Transit day passes or one 20-ride punch pass. Don’t throw them away!
Mail or bring them to Tri Delta Transit.
Tri Delta Transit will send you a free day pass!

How to redeem your passes:

Mail or deliver used day/punch passes along with return address information to:

Tri Delta Transit Frequent Rider Rewards
801 Wilbur Ave., Antioch CA 94509

Assembling of Tunnel Machine at East Portal

kayla — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:17:24 +0000

A giant roadheader, which was built in Northeastern Germany, was shipped to Oakland and assembled at the east portal of the Caldecott Tunnel. There are several weeks worth of work that must happen before the excavation can begin. According to Caldecott-tunnel.org, the $3.5 million dollar machine weighs 130 tons and has been attended to by several German workers who arrived with the machine to oversee its assembly and testing.

Source: